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130 联合国呼吁禁止非法进行武器交易
UN Arms Conference Calls for Halt to Illegal Trade
Breck Ardery
United Nations
9 Jul 2001 21:47 UTC
The United Nations began a two-week conference on 1)small arms with a call for an international framework to control the 2)illicit trade in those weapons.
U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette opened the conference by saying that, since 1990, small arms have killed about four million people around the world. She said small arms are now weapons of choice in most internal 3)conflicts and there is a need for international effort to stop the 4)proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
"Although there are existing international norms in the areas of nuclear non-proliferation, as well as bans on chemical and 5)biological weapons and on anti-personnel land mines, we still lack a framework of binding norms and standards to eliminate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons," she said. "This conference can be a significant step in that direction."
The conference hopes to develop a consensus statement by U.N. members that would outline ways to control the international trade in small arms and light weapons. The document would not be legally binding but conference organizers say it would provide standards that all nations could work toward.
U.S. 6)Undersecretary of State for Arms Control, John Bolton, told the conference the United States has strict controls on the export of small arms and expressed hope that other nations will adopt similar 7)procedures. However, Mr. Bolton said the United States draws a sharp 8)distinction between weapons intended for combat and those used for sport.
"We separate these military arms from 9)firearms such as hunting rifles and pistols which are commonly used and owned by citizens in many countries," he said.
Mr. Bolton said the United States would not support any U.N. statement that 10)prohibits 11)civilian possession of firearms.
U.N. officials say there had been a misunderstanding, especially in the United States, about the purpose of the conference. They say it is specifically dealing with the illegal international traffic in small arms and not with national laws that either restrict or permit gun ownership. In fact, the U.N. says any attempt to 12)interfere with national gun laws would violate the world organization's 13)charter.
(1) small arms n.轻武器
(2) illicit[I5lIsIt]adj.违法的
(3) conflict[5kRnflIkt]n.斗争, 冲突vi.抵触, 冲突
(4) proliferation[prEJ9lIfE`reIFEn]n.增殖
(5) biological[baIE5lRdVIk(E)l]adj.生物学的
(6) undersecretary[QndE5sekrEtErI; (?@) -terI]n.副部长
(7) procedure[prE5si:dVE(r)]n.程序, 手续
(8) distinction[dI5stINkF(E)n]n.区别, 差别, 特性
(9) firearms n.火器, 轻武器
(10) prohibit[prE5hIbIt; (?@) 5prEJ-]vt.禁止, 阻止
(11) civilian[sI5vIlIEn]n.平民, 公务员adj.民间的, 民用的
(12) interfere[IntE5fIE(r)]vi.干涉, 干预, 妨碍, 打扰
(13) charter[5tFB:tE(r)]n.宪章
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